Getting around Hamburg
Hamburg’s public transportation system is quite good. There is the S-Bahn, the U-Bahn and busses, of course. To find out how to get places, www.hvv.de or google maps will help you.
The standard price for a longer trip is 3.30 euros (it’s called Hamburg AB). For the S- and U-Bahn you need to get a ticket at the machine, for busses you can buy it from the driver. There are also group and day tickets available, which can save you money starting from 2-3 trips.
Restaurants
This is a completely subjective, non-exhaustive list of restaurants. There are certainly many more places out there, especially in the Schanzenviertel and around the harbor (or anywhere else in Hamburg). If you are looking for something in particular, just ask us!
1. Around DESY
Bistro Samarkand: German/international bistro food
Arena Imbiss: Doener, kiosk food
Country kitchen: good food, reasonably priced
Don Quichotte: solid food, big portions, good prices
Cafe/Bistro Elbwein: Flammkuchen and other dishes
2. Around Othmarschen S-Bahn
How to get there from DESY: You can take the Bus Nr 1 in the direction of Altona and get off at Othmarschen
Moraba: quite creative food, flatbread pizza, interesting pastas, quite small place
Blockhouse: chain, steaks, quite big
3. Around Ottensen
How to get there from DESY: Bus Nr 1 to Altona. Depending on where you going you might want to get off some stations earlier.
Otto’s burger: excellent burgers and sweet potato fries, vegetarian options, can get crowded
Billy the butcher: excellent steaks, and good burgers
Hatari: Southern German food, tasty, good portions and prices
Tapas El Iberico: very tasty tapas, not super cheap
Tapas Barcelona: also very tasty, a bit cheaper (but not by much)
Ramen Station Takumi: Very tasty ramen, small place
Flying market: Good vietnamese food, nice lemonades
Pizza Mamma Mia: nice pizza place, neighborhood institution
Leche de Tigre: Very tasty Peruvian dishes
Nostalgia: Greek, lots of cheesy dishes
Green papaya and Wild Rice: Asian
Kleine Brunnenstrasse: a bit fancier and more expensive, very good food, fairly small, reservation is recommended
Bars that we like around Ottensen: Mathilde, Reh Bar, Aurel, Kick and Company (usually has space)
4. Around the harbor
How to get there from DESY: Take the Bus Nr 1 to Othmarschen and then the S-1 to Landungsbruecken (for the first on the list the stop Stadthausbruecke would be more convenient)
Kartoffelkeller: traditional Hamburg food, nice Pannfish, quite filling
Ti Breizh: tasty Bretonic crepes, reservations might be needed
Barley and Malt: popular Irish Pub
Heimathafen: Decent traditional food, good prices, modern atmosphere
Groeningers: Brewery with Bavarian food
Ueberquell: Yummy pizza and good beer, quite hip
Wasserschloss by Teehandelskontor: a bit fancier and more expensive, very delicious food (traditional, but prepared a bit lighter and sometimes using tea)
There are also a lot of Portuguese restaurants in the Portuguese quarter (around Ditmar-Koel Strasse)
Sightseeing (again only small selection, there are tons of good museums, parks, and other things to do)
Hamburg Harbor and harbor tours (S-Bahn Landungsbrücken)
Speicherstadt with Miniature wonderland, Elbphilharmonie, Maritime museum, old storage houses, Kaffeeroesterei
Chocoversum
Innen- and Aussenalster: Hamburg’s very own Jet d’Eau, fancy hotels and nice paths by the water
Blankenese (S-Bahn Blankenese): beautiful captain’s villas on a hill overlooking the river Elbe